My gift to me

This Thanksgiving my part of the food provided was, from left to right, Tapenade, Sriracha Hummus and pinto bean hummus. I got rave reviews but I think it took more effort than was needed. And being a guy and a tool freak I saw this as a reason for a new toy, er tool.



This was my old food processor. 1-1/2 cup capacity, 70 watt motor. It was cute and didn't take up much space. However it would only process one cans worth of olives into Tapenade so a bowl such as I brought took two complete batches. It was also worthless at hummus which prompted me to get an immersion blender a while back which does a wonderful job.



This was my old blender which I picked up a few years back. Amongst the bargain priced blenders I picked this one because it said it would crush ice. It did, in the amount of one margarita's worth at a time. It also didn't do hummus well. It was about $35, 5 cup capacity, 400 watt.



This is the new Cuisinart I picked up at Sur La Table. At $100 it still isn't king of the hill but it will outdo either of the stand alone appliances I had. I decided to get the model exclusive to Sur La Table because of the 600 vs 500 watt motor and the metal vs the plastic base. Interesting how having a heavier duty appliance it only needs 3 speeds vs 12 of the lesser blenders. The food processor is 3 cups, the blender is 7 cups, it has a 600 watt motor. It also has the added capability of slicing and shredding. It is supposed to handle a full batch of ice. After not using it for over a year I relegated my coffee maker to a cabinet and this unit now takes it's place on the counter to make it easier to get to. So far I have made egg nog and shredded a potato.



Couple of items of note. I can already see myself wanting a full fledged 7 or 11 cup food processor. Does anybody want to give my old stuff a new home? :-)